


Innocence

by SilverKitsune



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Gen, Inspired by the art of Michael in his cloak in the manga, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-01-09
Packaged: 2018-09-15 21:48:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9258569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverKitsune/pseuds/SilverKitsune
Summary: At 12, Michael becomes the Shepherd via the trial inside the Ladylake Aqueducts.  A glimpse into a moment in the first day of his status as Shepherd.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [namio](https://archiveofourown.org/users/namio/gifts).



> For namio, who got me to go read the parts of the Zestiria manga involving Michael with her fic [Infallible Creatures](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9165940/chapters/20812060%22). I saw the back cover of Volume 4 of the manga, and I couldn't help but notice the clasp on Michael's cloak looks a lot like Lailah's necklace. And after seeing him in this morning's episode of Zestiria X and in the new OP, I couldn't get this scene out of my head. So here you go, namio. I love our back and forth in the comments of the first chapter of your fic, and I only hope I did both Lailah and Michael justice here, as I write rarely for Lailah and this is my first time writing for Michael.

Their journey back to the Shaorune Inn had been, thankfully, uninterrupted. Nobody noticed when a dirty 12 year old boy scrambled out of one of the Aqueduct exits, and even fewer cared to wonder why he was running through the streets. And while the inn owner had raised an eyebrow when Michael approached the desk to claim his room as the newly appointed Shepherd, he had fit the description as given by the clergy of the Sanctuary. The owner's wife had been a matronly sort, and had seen to it at least he got to the bathwater first, while it was still hot and relatively clean, and had given him some clean clothes to wear – they weren't new by any stretch of the meaning of the word, clearly hand me downs from her own son, but they were clean and dry, and that was more than Michael could have asked for.

Once back in their room, Lailah emerged from him, and stood back as Michael eagerly ran forward to inspect the cloak. He grinned as he lifted it, and held it up to his shoulders.

“Well Lailah, what do you think?” he eagerly asked.

She smiled, before taking the cloak from his (still small) hands, undoing the front to help him into it. _So young, such an innocent smile_ . . . she thought. Out loud, she said, “It'll look better once you put it on. Let me help you into it.”

Quickly he pulled it on, tying the front together and ran to the mirror. His smile grew wider, as if it were possible, and he twisted and turned in front of the mirror, arms flung wide. “It looks great doesn't it?”

“Yes, it does.” Walking over, she pulled out a clasp from her pocket, and turned him around to face her. Leaning down to pin the clasp to his cloak, she centered it before gently turning him back around to face the mirror. “But now I think it's perfect,” she smiled. “You look like a marvelous Shepherd, Michael.”

Michael glanced at the clasp in the reflection, before his eyes shifted to Lailah's necklace. His face shifted with emotion – first surprise, then something more unreadable. His eyes watered, and Lailah pretended to not see the tears that were threatening to fall.

“Thank you, Lailah,” he whispered as he turned around to hug her.

She returned the hug, and tried to ignore the way the front of her dress was slowly becoming soaked with tears.

_May that smile never fade._

 


End file.
